In all likelihood, neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney will be forced to give a desperate public address rallying humanity to unite in the face of an brutal alien invasion, Independence Day-style. But just for the sake of argument: when the flying saucers do arrive, which candidate do you want to see holding the megaphone?

America appears to have already made up its mind. According to a new poll by the National Geographicchannel, 65 percent of Americans believe that Barack Obama would be better at defending the world from an interplanetary attack.

Luckily for the nation, this election cycle features two candidates well-versed in science-fiction essentials. Romney, for one, is a well-documented SF fan: he enjoyed Star Trek on TV (though reportedly doesn’t consider himself a Trekkie), likes Star Wars, is a fan of Battlefield Earth (the book, if you please) and says Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game is one of his favorites,according to a Politico profile earlier this year.

Obama is no sci-fi slouch either, having given nods to both Star Wars and Star Trek while in office. Well-versed in the ways of the Force, he’s been spotted on the White House lawn jousting with a Jedi lightsaber. He’s also flashed Star Trek’s Vulcan salute in the Oval Office when he posed for a photo with the show’s Nichelle Nichols earlier this year.

Finally, Obama’s publicly tried to downplay what he called the misperception that he is “Spock-like” and analytical. If the National Geographic poll results are any indication, however, having a little Vulcan in him could pay off if a space invasion were imminent.